Short Summary

Thousands of students and young workers staged a massive pro-Castro demonstration outside the United States Embassy in Moscow, Apr. 18, following the attempt to overthrow the Cuban Government by invasion.

Description

Thousands of students and young workers staged a massive pro-Castro demonstration outside the United States Embassy in Moscow, Apr. 18, following the attempt to overthrow the Cuban Government by invasion. Most of the front windows of the building were smashed by stones and bottles. No one inside the Embassy was injured.

For several hours the crowd paraded in front of the Embassy waving banners, shouting "Cuba Yes, Yankees No" and "Hands off Cuba". A cordon of police and military trucks, were parked nose to tail in the road outside the building. These did not prevent the demonstrators from marching up to the rails of the Embassy and throwing stones at the windows. Several placards were stuck to the rails.

As the tempo of the demonstrators increased a strong column of mounted police moved in front of the building to clear the entrance. From the safety of the top floor of the Embassy the staff looked out the windows at the struggle below. Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson had left Russia by air shortly before the demonstration started. Some students who scuffled with the police were thrown into a truck and taken away.

Outside the Cuban Embassy on the other side of Moscow a crowd gathered shouting support for the Cuban Prime Minister. A loud cheer broke out when the Ambassador marched out of the building carrying the Cuban flag.